Watch out!! Here it comes again!! (What is it? What is it?) It’s the end of yet another decade, and subsequently the end of another 10 years of important and interesting (okay – at least interesting) Northern Star stories.

For those of you who did not have time to pore over endless volumes of old papers (like me), I now present an assortment of “top” NIU stories and happenings since the beginning of the 80s.

1980:

1. The MLK mall (a former parking lot) was completed, and described as a place to “improve a summer tan.”

2. The Board of Regents banned Erotic Week, an SA funded week that featured X-rated movies at the Student Center. This decision came much to the dismay of the student body.

3. Entertainment-wise, in 1980 Luke and Laura (of General Hospital) were wed and Steve Dahl and Teenage Radiation appeared at NIU.

1981:

1. SA Concert Committee Chairman Greg Schalla was asked to leave his job due to many complaints – one being that he scheduled an Elvis Costello concert before the contract was actually signed. Oops.

2. 85 mph winds did quite a lot of damage on campus during a storm. One student was injured, 30 windows in the dorms were shattered and the fence around the tennis courts were blown flat down.

3. In the national news, the 52 Iran hostages were finally released and a movement to began to make a national holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr.

1982:

1. Although you might not believe it, the Health Center was found to be above average in meeting students’ needs by a panel of medical professors.

2. Swen Parson became home to the College of Law, which was previously located in Glen Ellyn, Ill.

3. Eighteen rooms on floor 8-C of Grant North were flooded early one morning when a urinal exploded. Floor members stuffed their clothing under their doors to stop the water.

1983:

1. A juvenile was found and arrested after being locked in a Gable Hall ladies’ restroom overnight. He had tried to break into the Kotex dispenser with a small axe.

2. The dorms suffer again as the Stevenson North towers endured a 37 hour power outage.

3. The Egyptian Theater, 135 N. Second, reopened after five years and $2 million worth of remodeling. It was built in the late 1920s and is the only Egyptian-style theater left in the Midwest.

4. Nationally, the first issue of USA Today appeared in the newsstands, the last eposode of MASH appeared on TV and Harold Washington became the first Black mayor of Chicago.

1984:

1. The 1984 elections (Remember? It was Mondale and Reagan) sparked much debate on the NIU campus. In October, local candidates met students on the Commons, also known as the “Freedom of Speech Plaza.”

2. Geology department Acting Chairman Jonathan Berg and two students spent a month in Antarctica collecting 500 pounds of rock samples. One night they were stranded in a barren portion of the continent during 69-81 mile winds.

3. R.E.M. performed at the Egyptian Theater, the Psychedelic Furs played at the Duke Ellington Ballroom, and Daytime Diva Oprah Winfrey spoke to a crowd in the Diversions Lounge.

1985:

1. In November students organized a blackout in the dorms, on Greek Row, and also in parts of DeKalb to protest a Commonwealth Edison rate increase of 14.7%. It lasted from 8 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. and was estimated to be 70-80% effective.

2. Former NIU President Clyde Wingfield’s house was burglarized in September. Two TVs, a silver serving set and “personal items” were taken. This incident happened right after Wingfield’s new burglar alarms were installed.

3. Wal-Mart finally arrived in DeKalb! For those students who needed a job, the store needed between 125 and 150 new empolyees at the time of its grand opening.”

1986:

1. The first draft of a proposal that supported voluntary drug testing of NIU athletes was introduced in October. The John Lennon Society was especially upset and members were responsible for a written slogan on the MLK Commons sidewalk – “Athletes – either urine or you’re out” – along with an obscene illustration.

2. A fire in Neptune’s food service laundry room raised questions about safety and the current methods of cleaning food service rags. Uh, it seems that oil and grease built up in the rags couldn’t be washed out, and they spontaneously combusted.

3. This year the first of two bad Chicagoland floods occurred. Due to 12 inches of rain in a very short time, the Des Plaines and Fox Rivers overflowed, leaving $30 to $40 million worth of destruction in their wakes.

1987:

1. As if students weren’t stressed enough: both semester finals were disrupted by Mother Nature. In the winter a huge snowstorm dumped so much snow on campus that Tuesday final were cancelled until Saturday, causing many students to remain longer than they had planned. In the spring a huge rainstorm occurred the night before finals bringing with it numerous tornados.

2. Carroll Avenue was closed permanently after “heated and lengthy discussion” between NIU officials and students.

1988:

1. Leaks in the asbestos-laden ceiling of the fourth floor of the University Health Service caused some unrest for everyone who passed through that area. In fact, 55% of the buildings on campus were found to contain varying levels of asbestos. The cost to remove the substance was estimated to be $32 million.

2. Students walked out of a Math 101 class, fed up with a “hard-to-understand book, ineffective teacher and an extremely large class.” However, the class remained in session for the remainder of the semester.

3. NIU featured the likes of B.B. King, The Smithereens, UB40, and 10,000 Maniacs with Tracy Chapman – to suprisingly full crowds this year.

1989:

1. An early morning fire on the third floor of Grant Towers North resulted in $4,000 in damages and the suspension of the freshman arrested in the incident. He allegedly sent a two-foot-long Roman candle (lit) under the Resident Assistant’s door. Luckily, the R.A. wasn’t home at the time.

2. The first condom machines appeared on campus in the Spring of this year. According to a campus survey, condom sales appeared to be at expected levels.

3. The grotesque in the little garden between Still Gym and Altgeld became even more gruesome when it was spray-painted in neon colors. Members of the American Marketing Association spent a day working to re-beautify the victimized creature.